1. Field of the Invention
The embodiment of the present invention relates to a phase noise limiting apparatus, a phase noise limiting method, a receiving apparatus, a receiving method, and programs. More particularly, the embodiment of the present invention relates to a phase noise limiting apparatus, a phase noise limiting method, a receiving apparatus, a receiving method, and programs for suitably limiting phase noise where there exist a plurality of frequency down-converters to be used.
2. Description of the Related Art
Upon frequency conversion from radio frequency (RF) to intermediate frequency (IF) signals in ordinary RF (radio frequency) circuitry, a phase noise occurs due to frequency fluctuations from a local oscillator (LO). The phase noise is known to adversely affect the demodulation performance (i.e., error rate) of a downstream demodulator. It is therefore desirable to limit the phase noise included in the IF signal upstream of the demodulation stage.
Generally, phase noise is limited using an optimal parameter corresponding to the quantity of the phase noise detected from the IF signal. One typical technique for accomplishing such noise limitation is disclosed illustratively in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 11-136301.